RodeoHouston 2018

Thomas Rhett steals hearts with his satin hooks at RodeoHouston

Rhett wowed the crowd with upbeat country and pop-infused tunes.

Photo by RodeoHouston

Thomas Rhett is one of those singers who is about as country as Church’s chicken — Southern, certainly, but going for mass appeal so hard that any regional flavor is incidental, really.

In other words, his music is delicious. A little fattening, maybe. His songs contain enough details to be convincing and enough clichés to be popular.

He’s very popular. Rhett will be 28 at the end of the month, and his second straight RodeoHouston appearance March 7 came just in the nick of time. His latest single, “Marry Me,” happens to be the No. 1 country song in the nation this week. It’s also his tenth No. 1 country song just three albums into his career.

So yes, Rhett would be easy to hate if he weren’t so dang likable.

He’s easy on the eyes, too. He looks like he sounds: scruffy but wholesome. Based on his stagewear, black satin jackets and white T-shirts, Rhett and his band would not be out of place in the next Pitch Perfect sequel.

Looks aside, though, these guys also delivered the big sound a successful rodeo appearance demands. (March 7's announced attendance: 60,204.) It was there in opener “T-Shirt,” an upbeat throwback to '90s pop-rock role models Matchbox 20 and Third Eye Blind; or the sorry-not-sorry anthem “Crash and Burn,” which — here I’m dating myself and I don’t care — sounded like a killer Kenny Loggins tune pushed 40 years into the future.

Rhett has been vocal about his admiration of Bruno Mars, and it shows. It’s a shame he didn’t break out his “24K Magic” cover, but it wasn’t missed thanks to the pulsating disco-pop of “Craving You,” which didn’t suffer much for the lack of duet partner Maren Morris. “Vacation,” meanwhile, borrowed a riff from the Beastie Boys or Red Hot Chili Peppers to give off that unmistakable whiff of Spring Break. Coconut water and Coppertone…mmmmm.

But it could have easily gone the other way. Rhett is hardly immune to singing about back roads and such, but he gets away with it because he’s affable and relatable enough to make the audience believe he’s singing about real stuff: a cute girl in a Guns N’ Roses T-shirt; becoming a dad; living it up at a Motel 6 or, in “Grave,” the Good Lord finally calling you home. (What a great title.) The twist in “Marry Me” — a wedding song full of magnolias, missed opportunities and a trusty hip flask — is worthy of a Hugh Grant movie.

Besides, Rhett is perfectly aware of who is singing all those big choruses back to him. The island-pop of “Make Me Wanna” brought the night’s first swoon. “Star of the Show” reads like a love note with all the I’s dotted with hearts (or in modern terms, an emoji-packed Instagram caption). Standing in the middle of an enormous stadium, Rhett managed to collapse all that space to the point he might as well have been sitting on the edge of a bed.

Another one that didn’t need much embellishment was “Die a Happy Man,” Rhett’s biggest hit to date (the ultimate fate of “Marry Me” notwithstanding), his final song, and a damn fine song to boot. Its message is as simple as its melody: it’s the little things that matter most — the sight of your wife in a little black dress, dancing with her by a fireplace — because that’s what you hold onto when the initial moment is long gone.

Songwriters and performers who understand that, and apply it to their craft, can go far indeed. Rhett seems to get it. So did the two ladies dancing behind me, right there in the middle of the concourse, in a way that the people who started streaming up the stairs in order to beat the traffic probably didn’t.

Thomas Rhett set list

T-Shirt
Make Me Wanna
Life Changes
Grave
Craving You
Star of the Show
Sixteen
Get Me Some of That
Crash and Burn
Vacation
Marry Me
Unforgettable
Die a Happy Man

Rhett wowed the crowd with upbeat country and pop-infused tunes.

Photo by RodeoHouston

Rhett wowed the crowd with upbeat country and pop-infused tunes.

concerts rodeo

Movie Review

Sheriff Bob Odenkirk is back in over-the-top new action movie 'Normal'

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Bob Odenkirk in Normal.

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first three John Wick movies, has essentially had a blank check to do what he wants in the movie landscape since 2014. In recent years that has meant writing the action series Nobody for Bob Odenkirk, who has turned from a comedian into an unlikely action star in his sixties. Kolstad and Odenkirk are teaming up again in Normal.

A film that tries to evoke Fargo in multiple ways, Normal finds Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) serving as a temporary sheriff for the small town of Normal, Minnesota after the previous sheriff died. Knowing he’s just a steward until a new sheriff is elected, Ulysses takes a live-and-let-live approach to the job, letting the deputies (Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan) do the grunt work and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, including Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler).

A bank robbery attempt by two non-citizens upsets his best-laid plans in more ways than he can imagine. Not only is he forced to confront a crime not often seen in a town like Normal, but the robbery uncovers secrets that turn the film into an all-out bloodbath. Soon, almost everyone in town becomes involved in what comes to resemble a war, along with — you guessed it — Yakuza henchmen from Japan.

Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Kolstad, the film is a slight twist on the everyman-turned-hero character Odenkirk played in the two Nobody films. While Ulysses is in law enforcement, he prefers to use words instead of weapons, and it’s only when he’s pushed to the brink that he crosses that line. Naturally, his skills are beyond what anyone would expect of him, allowing him to match up well with people half his age.

The film is not a comedy in the traditional sense, but instead aims for laughs by catching the audience off-guard with its ultraviolence. Some characters are dispatched in shockingly unexpected ways, with one of the only natural reactions to the jarring nature of their deaths being laughter. That’s not necessarily the case for other killings, which range from blasé to sadistic, and the only reason they count as entertainment is because the filmmakers have primed the audience to accept them as such.

After a relatively solid setup, where Wheatley and Kolstad seem to take their time getting to know the main characters, the second half of the film is pure action that dispenses with good storytelling. Like many action movies, there are double crosses, surprise revelations, and more, but the filmmakers don’t seem to care about making sense of any character arcs. All they care about is delivering mayhem, and they succeed on that front.

Odenkirk has perfected the mild-yet-intimidating nature of his action characters, and it is satisfying to see him get the better of those who have done him wrong. He doesn’t run or jump like fellow 63-year-old Tom Cruise, but — with the help of fast-paced editing — he still makes for a credible action hero. The only other actors of any note in the film are Winkler, who’s a nice presence with his sardonic personality, and Lena Headey, whose small role doesn't match up with her experience.

You have to have a certain mindset to enjoy a film like Normal, but if you can abide its over-the-top bloodiness, it’s a serviceable action film. Few would have expected Odenkirk to take on these kinds of roles at this late stage of his career, but he’s making the most of his opportunities.

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Normal opens in theaters on April 17.

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